Photo by Jude Pullman
Electric Works is pleased to present a new print project by renowned writer Philip Pullman. Author of the acclaimed His Dark Materials trilogy, Pullman hand-rendered over 70 images as chapter headings for a special edition of the books.
For the first time this artwork is being released in two forms—an oversized broadside featuring all images on one sheet, and an edition of select individual images. The broadsides are released in a limited edition of 250 and the single images in an edition of 100. These limited editions are all hand signed and numbered by the author. An unsigned, open edition of each published image and broadsheet is also available.
Artwork courtesy: Electric Works
These are letterpress prints, using one of the oldest printing techniques, dating back over 1,000 years. They are printed on heavy-duty, 100% cotton paper and feature custom chops from both the author’s studio and also from Electric Works, the publishers. They are printed in two colors (deep red and rich black) over four passes to ensure the highest level of detail is captured in each illustration.
Artwork courtesy: Electric Works
Artwork courtesy: Electric Works
The product of over five years of collaboration, these prints mark the first time Pullman’s artwork is available in the marketplace. In Pullman’s own words: “Before the first Dark Materials Books came out, the publisher suggested it would be good to have a small decorative device at the head of every chapter. ‘The same one in every chapter?’, I asked and then suggested ‘Why don’t we have a different one?’. ‘Well, OK’, he conceded. I then asked if I could draw them. ‘But you’re not an artist’, he pointed out. I said I could draw, and he challenged me to prove it. So I went away and had a go.”
Prints are available HERE
The Lord of Dust, creator of daemons and spinner of the finest fairy tales, Philip Pullman is one of the world’s greatest and most influential storytellers. His wide-ranging body of work encompasses books for both adults and children, but he is best-known for the unparalleled achievement that is His Dark Materials and the sequel, La Belle Sauvage, the first volume in Pullman’s new series The Book Of Dust. Published in October 2017, La Belle Sauvage has since been named Waterstone’s Book of the Year. The second book in the series, The Secret Commonwealth, was published 3rd October, 2019.
Philip Pullman was born in Norwich, England in 1946 and grew up in Zimbabwe and Wales. He worked as a teacher for many years and his first children’s novel, Count Karlstein, came out in 1982. The Ruby In The Smoke, the first of the Sally Lockhart quartet of Victorian thrillers, was published in 1985.
He has won many awards for his children’s books, including the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children’s Book Award, the Smarties Prize, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and a CBE. His acclaimed fantasy trilogy, His Dark Materials (Scholastic Books in the UK and Knopf in the US), comprising Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, has been published in 39 languages, and even in graphic novel form (with the French publishers, Gallimard). The first volume is now a major motion picture, released in 2007. In 2019 the BBC, in line with Bad Wolf Productions, broadcast a new, award-winning drama series based on His Dark Materials, on which Philip was an executive producer.
Philip’s other books for children and young adults include Clockwork, I Was A Rat!, and The New Cut Gang books; Thunderbolt’s Waxwork and The Gas-Fitter’s Ball. Once Upon A Time In The North was published in April, 2008. In 2010 Philip published his controversial number one bestseller The Good Man Jesus And The Scoundrel Christ.
In 2019 Philip received a knighthood for his services to literature. He is the winner of 2019’s J M Barrie Award, given annually in recognition of a lifetime’s achievement delighting children. Philip Pullman lives in Oxford with his wife and has two sons.
About Electric Works
Electric Works is a fine art press, publisher and gallery in San Francisco. In the last 30 years, we have worked with numerous artists including David Byrne, R. Crumb, Marcel Dzama, Dave Eggers, Jim Goldberg, Hung Liu, David Mamet, Sally Mann, Robyn O’Neil, Larry Sultan, Wayne Thiebaud, Catherine Wagner, Lawrence Weiner, and William T. Wiley. We have produced lithographic, letterpress, photogravure, silkscreen, intaglio, and digital prints, including many hybrid projects featuring multiple techniques. This is their first project with Philip Pullman. For more details, visit sfelectricworks.com
